Holding Her Own
by ValaMalDoran-Jackson
Summary: She can take care of herself.


He heard her, before he saw her. She sounded…enraged? She was speaking quickly, her voice hard. Rounding the corner to the campsite, he saw three Marines at her feet, each clutching different parts of their anatomy. Teal'c stood off behind her, his arms wrapped around hers, pinning her in place as she struggled to get free.

"Teal'c? Daniel called, hurrying forward, breaking into a run as he cleared the tree line.

"DanielJackson, I require your assistance!"

"Peanut, stop, what happened?" Daniel skidded to a halt at her side, nodding once at Teal'c to release the fourteen year old.

"They – they _moved_ them, Dad, they _moved_ them! Just look! They moved them!" Peanut advanced on the nearest Marine, Vala instantly pulled her back.

"Enough." She ordered.

"Teal'c?" Daniel looked to his friend for clarification.

"The Marines you see here became impatient with the care PeanutJacksonMalDoran took in cataloguing the dig site. I arrived too late to stop her from assaulting the three before us. PeanutJacksonMalDoran refused to heed my request to cease her assault, therefore I subdued her to allow her time to, cool off, as you say." Daniel looked to his daughter, the tear streaked face she turned to him was full of anger, and his heart melted. Gently slipping an arm around her shoulders, he guided her off to the side with Vala.

"I couldn't stop them, Dad. I had to make them stop." She blurted suddenly.

"Remember what we talked about?" He brushed back her dark hair, so like her mother's.

"They didn't hurt you, did they?" Vala asked then, turning Peanut to face her.

"I'm sorry darling, I can't help it, she's my baby, I have to know she's unharmed before we kill her." She shrugged when Daniel shot her a dirty look.

"They tried. When I punched the first guy in the face, the second guy grabbed my arm, you k now I hate it when someone tries to grab me. I kicked him, he went down. Third guy got me around the neck, so I reached back, grabbed him by the crotch and twisted his –"

"Peanut!" Daniel felt his jaw drop as Peanut told what she had done.

"They just started grabbing stuff and tossing it around, like it was garbage or something, and Teal'c wasn't there to tell them to stop, they wouldn't listen to me when I told them to stop. So I punched the first guy. He deserved it." Her small jaw set as she looked past him to the Marine slowly getting to his feet.

"Importantly though, they didn't hurt you? Not at all? Nothing you're hiding from us?" Vala asked quickly.

"No, I'm fine. Teal'c stopped me from taking them all down, otherwise there could have been more injuries." Peanut sighed heavily.

"The important thing here is that you know what you did wrong. Want to take a guess?" Daniel asked.

Peanut stepped back to turn a glare on him.

"They moved the artifacts before I could catalogue them, and I'm the one in trouble?" She demanded angrily.

"You assaulted three grown men, ignored Teal'c telling you to stop, and created a possible offworld incident by pitching a fit. Not only that, you broke the trust we had in you." Vala replied, then glanced at Daniel.

"That's right. We left you here to take care of the dig. Not to start a fight. Stay here, I'll go see if there's going to be repercussions to your actions, whether or not you're going to be grounded from Gate travel when the General Landry hears of this." Daniel shook his head as he walked away, Vala at his side.

"Let me do all the talking?" She murmured when they approached the injured Marines.

"Don't kill them." He replied just as quietly, giving her the okay. Stepping into the circle of Marines, Vala bent to check the three injured.

"That looks painful," she commented, watching the medic set Evans' nose back into place.

"The little girl did quite a number. We may have to take him back for surgery." The medic replied.

"Shame. I'd love to be the proverbial fly on the wall when General Landry hears of this. Trained by the best, yet a ninety pound little girl takes the three of you down in under fifteen seconds. How long do you think he'll have you guarding the commissary before you resign your commissions?" Vala asked sweetly. The three looked up at her, comprehension dawning on their faces at what she was insinuating.

"You don't want us to tell the General she punched us out?" One finally asked.

"Not saying that at all. Just saying I'd love to be in the room when he hears that three of you took on a little girl…and she came out standing. Best and brightest, maybe, but strongest? Never. Of course, if nothing gets reported to the General, then, quite possibly he doesn't have to know what went on with the three of you ganging up on a helpless little girl, especially after you had understood she did not want the artifacts removed from their sites." She smiled brightly at them, turning to face Daniel.

"Wonder if she would even be crying when she tells the general how she was alone and unprotected when these hardened Marines decided to put their hands on her?" She asked.

"You know, I did see a bruise on her throat, now that you mention it. I'm sure it's got to be painful. Poor little thing, she must've been so frightened." He continued.

"Terrified, even. What, we put her in pigtails, a skirt, she cries, he sticks them where the sun don't shine?" Vala asked.

"You remember that little whimper she used to make when she got into trouble as a little girl? I'm pretty sure we have it on video at home. We get her to make that sound in front of Landry, that's, what…? Dishonorable discharge? Not to mention what the police will do to them, for assault on a minor?" Daniel smiled.

"Okay! We won't say a word. Consider this little misunderstanding forgotten, no harm no foul." Evans blurted quickly.

"Now, you know if you try to take revenge against her, she can take you. She's proved it here. Not to mention, when she's done with you her god-father will want a piece of you." Daniel gestured to Teal'c as he spoke.

"As I do now, DanielJackson." The words were a clear warning. The other Marines agreed to keep the matter quiet, and Daniel turned to head back to his daughter.

"Some days, I look at her and she's you all over again, then days like today hit and she's all me. Before I met you, Major Lorne was with me on a dig, he moved a bunch of artifacts. Jack told me to go to my happy place." He smirked at the memory of that day, when he'd been part of the treaty negotiations between Unas and Human.

"The best of both of us. She'll stand up for what's right, and do her best to stop oppression." Vala agreed.

"Safe to say she doesn't need any more self defense lessons from Ish'ta." Daniel grinned.

"Or Master Bra'tac. Or Teal'c. No more Krav Maga."

"She mastered it. Jack said she busted up her instructor last week in training. I watched her take Teal'c three days ago, and he said he wasn't holding back. We've created a monster, you think we should tell her the truth?" Daniel asked.

"We're terrified she'll kill us with her bare hands? Hell no." Vala replied.

"Tell her it's a punishment." She continued.

"That's good, that's really good. Punishment. Yeah." Daniel took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"You tell her, I'll give you a million dollars." He said swiftly.

"Coward."

"Fruitcake."


End file.
